Get out on the water the snapper are here

Fishing picks up as spawning nears ... and it’s scallop season too.

Things are picking up on the fishing scene and in Auckland you don't have to go far to find snapper. Some lovely fish are coming from water 2m deep at Brown's Island and snapper are all through the channel across to Islington Bay on Rangitoto Island.

The best fishing is over the foul seabed. This area fishes best with strong tidal flows - and tomorrow brings one of the highest tides of the month on the Waitemata Harbour. The 3.5m tide will produce strong currents, and with a 10.22am high it will be ideal for a dawn start.

The key is plenty of berley and baits of half a pilchard or squid. Some anglers use two hooks on either a ledger rig or a short trace below a sinker and mix the baits with squid and pillie on different hooks.

Floating baits can be used in shallow water; they should be cast well down the berley trail away from the boat. Small snapper will congregate under the boat, but the larger fish are more wary and will hang back.

Kingfish are also turning up at the popular spots like the Noises and Crusoe Rock.

The scallop season opened on September 1. The scollies at the bottom end of Waiheke Island and in the Firth of Thames are in top condition, but those at the Noises are still lean.

Fishing has also been good off Orete Point and over the pinnacles in the middle of the firth.

The reefs around Shag Rock and Gannet Rock are also holding fish, and john dory can be found in good numbers at this time of year. The 30m hole in the channel between Waiheke and Pakatoa Islands is a reliable spot for hooking dory.

August and September traditionally brings the first congregations of snapper before the spring spawning. Shellfish beds in 18m of water on the eastern side of Rakino Island usually hold male snapper at this time of year.

The normal pattern is for the snapper to move down the coast from Bream Bay into the Hauraki Gulf. Some go into the Firth of Thames and others take the western side, past Kawau Island and into the 20m flats between Tiritiri Matangi Island and the Noises and around Waiheke.

Snapper are starting to school on the 20m shelf south of the Ninepin at the Bay of Islands and the bay is also reported to be full of schools of mackerel, which when fished as live baits in the deeper water are hooking both kingfish and large snapper. In Bream Bay some good snapper are being taken off the Waipu River.

Fresh waterIn Rotorua, the beach by the main road on the Blue Lake is a good spot for early-morning fly fishing. Trout liberated into the lake return to the beach as adults up to 3kg gather to spawn.

This is one fishery that is often neglected as people drive past it on the way to Lake Tarawera. But the trout are in top condition and it is well worth stopping, particularly after heavy rain.

Trolling on Lake Rotorua along the eastern shore from the Ohau Channel to the airport is picking up as trout follow shoals of smelt moving into the shallows to spawn.

More fishing action can be found on Rheem Outdoors with Geoff, 5pm Saturday, TV3, and at GTTackle.co.nz.

Bite times
Bite times are 3.20am and 3.45pm tomorrow and 4.10am and 4.40pm on Sunday. These are based on the moon phase and position, not tides, so apply to the whole country.

Tip of the week
Carry a light rod rigged with sabiki jig flies and catch live bait while snapper fishing. This can be fished in the berley trail, and if piper turn up remove the sinker and float the small, baited hooks on the surface. Fresh piper are excellent bait, as are the common jack mackerel (yellowtails).